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A vote today by a European Parliament committee could be a step toward support for European carbon markets, which have suffered from low prices. The proposal of "backloading," intended to raise prices and encourage the use of green energy, would require approval from the full Parliament and from individual nations to take effect.

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European carbon permit prices will leap 61% by mid-2015, analysts predict, as the European Union tightens permit supply in order to breathe new life into the region's struggling carbon market. "Three years ago, some people were thinking carbon trading would die. ... The market is now convinced there is a political tailwind for carbon trading," says Barbara Lambrecht, an analyst at Commerzbank.

The rapid development of shale natural gas in the U.S. will not significantly reduce the country's carbon footprint because cheap gas will supplant low-carbon energy sources, according to a report from Stanford's Energy Modeling Forum. However, it will increase the country's gross domestic product by about $70 billion annually over the next several decades, and the use of shale gas could help reduce air pollutants by replacing other energy production, such as coal, the report said. "[A]verage emission damages decline by $1 billion each year (2010 dollars) for sulfur dioxide and by $0.25 billion each year for nitrogen oxides."

New Yorkers could soon be required to separate food scraps from the rest of their household waste. Similar composting programs are underway in Seattle and San Francisco, but composting New York's waste had previously been thought to be too logistically complex. "If successful, pretty soon there'll be very little trash left for homeowners to put in their old garbage cans," said environmental lawyer Eric A. Goldstein.

Spending on green cleaning products is expected to hit $9.3 billion by 2017, up from $2.7 billion last year, according to Global Industry Analysts. Green cleaning product sales dwindled after the recession but are back at pre-recession levels. Ecover hopes to double its sales over the next five years but, like other companies, must reach customers who are "overwhelmed by competing claims" about green products, Philip Blenkinsop writes.